Jennifer Hudson will receive the Rowdy Activist Award at the Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS

Jennifer Hudson will receive the first Elizabeth Taylor Rowdy Activist Award for her continued support of people living with HIV and the LGBTQ+ community. The award will be presented at The Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS fundraising gala on September 26 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Hudson, who will turn 43 on Sept. 12, became an EGOT in 2022. She was just 40 years old when she completed the awards sweep, younger than any other woman in history. Her eponymous talk show, which will return for a third season on September 16, has received numerous awards and nominations, including GLAAD's Excellence in Media Award.

The event will feature singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield. Bedingfield has scored two top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine.” “Unwritten” was boosted by its prominence in the hit rom-com Anyone but you starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.

Richard Dickson, chairman and CEO of Gap Inc., will accept the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award at the event.

Model, actress and author Dominique Jackson will be the event MC. The Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS will feature a seated dinner, a live auction in partnership with Christie's and an exclusive look at items from The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.

Taylor, who died in 2011 aged 79, was an outspoken advocate for people with AIDS at a time when the word was hardly spoken in polite society. Taylor began her philanthropic efforts in 1984, co-organizing and hosting the first AIDS fundraiser to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to provide support services to people with HIV/AIDS, paying its own overhead costs. Since her death, her estate has continued to fund ETAF's work and donates 25% of royalties from the use of her image and likeness to the foundation.

Taylor has received numerous awards for her philanthropic work. He was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1987, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 1993, and was honored with the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2000.